Catholicism

It’s no secret that the Catholic Church in the Western world has experienced a tremendous drop in practicing members over the past 50 years. More troubling—and not unrelated—is the fact that the desire to gain more members via evangelization has...

Related: Podcast Episode 25: Can a Catholic Question Vatican II? Evangelization can be frustrating. After 25 years evangelizing in my personal life and in official roles with the Church, including as a diocesan Director of Evangelization, I know...

For the Christian parent today, anxiety can be a constant companion. Beyond the normal stresses of parenthood, the Christian parent has a greater and more pervasive fear: What if my child leaves the faith? Such a fear can leave a parent sleepless...

We all remember high school and its cliques: the jocks, the nerds, the stoners, etc…and of course the mass of kids who just hope to survive without any embarrassing moments on their permanent record. One thing was certain: you were either a cool...

In my experience, when Catholics are confronted with the idea of evangelizing, the first reaction is fear—plain, unadulterated fear. You know how they say people most fear public speaking and death? Well, most Catholics would rather give a speech...

Recently I’ve been reading The Hobbit to two of my young children. Central to the story is lost treasure: Thorin and his fellow dwarves ask for Bilbo Baggins’ help in reclaiming their trove, which has been captured by the dragon Smaug and hidden...

For many Christians, few things are more stressful than talking about the faith with others. This is especially true here in America, where we are taught from a young age that it’s not polite to talk about religion or politics in public. Telling...

Although evangelization is a core activity of the Catholic life, a lot of Catholics today don’t understand what it entails. Having been involved in Catholic evangelization for a quarter of a century, I’ve encountered many evangelization-related...

I recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of my conversion to Catholicism. When I think back to the time of my conversion, I remember that it was a season of much optimism in the Church. Everyone seemed to feel that we had turned the corner from...

Martin Scorsese’s recent movie Silence debuted last week to critical acclaim. The movie, based on the book by Shusaka Endo, is the fictional story of a Jesuit priest in the 17thcentury who travels to Japan to discover what happened to his...

A woman asked a friend to take her to the doctor’s office. She had a stressful medical procedure planned, and she needed her friend’s support. Her friend willingly agreed, and accompanied her throughout the process. The woman was happy to have...

A recent article in Psychology Today by Marty Nemko reflected on “Marriage’s Purpose.” In an era when so many marriages disintegrate, or don’t even happen, such a discussion is helpful. Why get married in the first place? What is the purpose of...